Delivering innovative design to UK and European businesses with TomTom Belgrade

Expanding our experience overseas

As a London-based design and build contractor, our win work strategies have predominately within the capital, however as our relationships begin to flourish, our offering has started to expand and grow with our client base, working across the UK and Europe.

When TomTom shared their portfolio plans with us, we presented a generation of ideas and plan of how we could approach in partnership, agreeing on a format with Peldon Rose leading as international project manager, and Techo as our in-country delivery partner.

Delivering 15,000 sq ft Cat A and Cat B in Belgrade

The first project in Belgrade was taken on as Cat A and Cat B works, in a development that had no fit out whatsoever - the space was just a concrete shell, lifts, stairs, and windows.

For TomTom, this was a project that required expertise from a provider that they could trust to create a workplace design that would be their global flagship.

Workplace relocation to support a growing business unit

As a well-established and expanding business unit within the region, when the existing Belgrade office lease came to an end, TomTom decided they needed to move to a new building in a suitable location for their dynamic and innovative workforce.

The city of Belgrade had seen a boost in investment and TomTom were looking for a better-quality building. The new location is situated in the green heart centre, which has been developed by Serbian GTC, TomTom’s existing landlord.

Workplace consultancy to develop an agile design

We carried out workplace consultancy exercises and supported their transition to an activity-based-working workspace, providing their employees with a smart and agile ways of working.

As an employer and facilities team, TomTom are becoming much more aware of working practices that are going to be better for their employee’s wellbeing, which in turn supports employee retention and attraction initiatives.

The design incorporated LEED accreditation to the fit out, which included elements such as using high water efficient bathroom and tapware, including materials with a high percentage recycled content and low VOC materials, and reducing the amount of materials used on site but exposing the ceiling structure.

Creating a client for life

Working with TomTom on multiple projects in the past and collaborating with their team to create a design playbook provided us with a solid foundation for the design concept and look and feel for the Belgrade HQ.

The design intent of each office is to create a space that incorporates the TomTom values alongside the heritage and culture of the city the office is located in. With the knowledge of each company's process and the existing relationship with the TomTom team, we created a cohesive design development stage built on trust and confidence.

Influencing the design with the history of Belgrade

Head of SME Design Steph di Losa explains “My favourite aspect of the project is the central wing of the building with the tea point, breakout and waiting area. This space is the heart of the office, a multi-purpose space with a variety of furniture pieces and joinery to create the different functions. With the different objective for this space, it was important to design the central wing differently to the others. This area was influenced by the brutalist architecture with the use of exposed brick and structural elements alongside street art murals, rustic timber, and moss in cobblestone street inspired carpet. These two elements where then brought together with the TomTom branding”.